Pinterest is filled with back-to-school lunch ideas

By Samantha Schultz

Member of the Chicago Parent Blog Network

8/15/13 1:59 PM

As families transition into school mode, parents have shopped
for school supplies, prepared backpacks and get those school
wardrobes ready. You've probably already prepared your freezer
meals and all that's left is to think about how to create
lunches each day that your child will be excited about eating. Here
are some great ideas to keep lunchtime fresh and fun.

Gear

An insulated lunch
box is great to keep foods at the right temperature. With fun
patterns and prints, your kids will love choosing their own. If you
need to send soup along one day, a thermal insulated container
will do the trick and its compact design won't take up too much
space in a lunch bag. Stainless steel bottles are
all the rage. I love grabbing mine to take on the go

Keep those sandwiches and snacks fresh with reusable snack bags
rather than wasting money on plastic baggies you might otherwise
throw away. {Giveaway alert} Head on over to my
family blog for your chance to win a set of reusable lunch
supplies to jazz up your school lunches this year!

Menu ideas

Once you have the cute bag, now you have to fill it with
something equally as interesting. It's time to get creative! What
about leftover pizza-dillas? My
kids also really love when I recreate the sandwich as a wrap or
roll-up. This compilation of more than 200 school
lunch ideas will help you get through the school year and add
variety to lunchtime.

Do you Bento? The
concept of the bento box fits lunches into a small square or
rectangle. You can create small shapes of cheese, little sandwiches
and cupcake liners filled with fruit. You really can think outside
the box with what you put into the box.

For even more great ideas to get you through this school year,
check out our Pinterest
board. Don't forget to enter the
giveaway for your own lunchtime set.